Ten STEM-minded students have earned themselves the trip of a lifetime after completing a challenge to improve the lives of children in a Kenyan primary school.
The students from UTC Reading will travel out to Karare, Kenya, in the summer to see for themselves their idea implemented to improve conditions for children at Loruko Primary School.
The school is situated in a very low-income pastoral community and at present conditions are hard. There is no running water or electricity, meaning poor hygiene, and a lack of basic resources. Girls are often overlooked for education as families may not have the money or prioritise their sons to educate.
The conditions for Kenyan schoolchildren clearly touched many of the UTC students, who were set the challenge to use their STEM skills to tackle some of the problems the school deals with every day. From improving access to clean water, to creating sustainable power that is vandalism proof, to stopping elephants from raiding the water tanks, the students worked in teams to come up with some truly effective ideas. Some of the ideas presented were simple – eg a chilli fence that stops elephants entering without harming them; while others involved more complicated ideas such as wind turbines.
The challenge was put to the students at a Challenge Day on 21 November. Challenge Days – where the whole school works off curriculum in teams alongside a variety of employers on a set challenge – is a regular feature of UTCs (university technical colleges). However this is the first time UTC Reading’s Challenge Day has gone global.
A mutual connection brought UTC Reading and The Amuka Foundation together. Amuka is a small charity that raises money for local schools in the Karare area. Jane Ainslie is a volunteer with the charity, who regularly travels out to Kenya to Loruko (this Christmas for example she is delivering boxes of shoes there).
Jane said: “Having discussed the school’s wish to focus its Challenge Day on an international project, we had a good long think about how it could work – and our STEM Challenge Day was born.”
Jane began the day explaining to UTC Reading’s students about the difficulties faced by the Loruko community, which clearly touched many. The challenge was then set – to look at one of four problems: access to clean water; security; access to energy or education environment.
Working with a small army of employers from a variety of STEM and business backgrounds, the students, clearly exited by the challenge, got work on their ideas, which they presented at the end of the day. Eleven winning teams were chosen that day, who later refined their presentations before delivering them to an Amuka panel.
Ellie Bird Lenawarungu, founder of Amuka was ‘blown away’ by the ideas presented, which included water bottle lamps, wind turbines, underground water systems, sustainable fuel briquettes for cooking, reusable sanitary pads, crypto currency fundraising, vandal-proof solar power and waste water. “It was so hard to choose,” said Ellie. “Some we had to discount because they were too expensive to implement right now – but the ideas are banked for the future in my mind.”
Unable to choose between two teams, both were selected as winners. Team 2 came up with a sustainable chilli wall to keep wildlife out and young children in. Team 10 came up with a combination of simple, quick to implement ideas, such as improving the classrooms with new desks and seats and artwork, which would make a huge difference. They also suggested a floor coating to prevent Jiggers – a parasite that burrows into feet.
The winning teams are understandably incredibly excited about their upcoming trip to Kenya. Student Adam said, “I’m so happy to be going. I just want to help these people. I’ve got family in a similar situation in Tunisia and I feel like I have to do this.”
The work will begin in the new year to start fundraising for the trip and raising money for the Foundation.
Head teacher of UTC Reading, Jennie Thomson said: “I am exceptionally proud of the work that the students have put into this project. It has not only shown their excellent STEM knowledge and skills, but their passion, professionalism and true awareness of wider global issues. Sitting in the final presentations blew me away with the quality and confidence the teams showed. This is what they do best. It was an excellent experience for all involved and I am very excited to be planning our trip to Karare this summer to see the ideas brought to life!”
